blocked by the accident there. it is slick as you travel in urbana. let's head to 66. we were talking about this earlier. westbound at the dulles toll road. crash there blocks your left lane and left center lane. i'm going to give you a live look at what 66 at leesburg pike looks like. you see pretty snow covered inside the beltway on 66. outside the beltway on 66, not as bad as fairfax county parkway. this is as you head eastbound. so more volume helped clear the road a bit. you got to give yourself extra time. aaron and eun? >> thank you. right now, plows busy cleaning up snow-covered roads around the region. a live look for you -- we hope. there we go. 200 trucks have been pretreating d.c. streets since 10:00 last night. ddot says road temperature are below freezing. they expect the snow to stick to the streets through the rush hour. and counties south and east of the district are waking up to the most snow this morning. news4's megan mcgrath has been traveling around prince george's county. she started in suitland and is in forestville. how are the roads as you're driving? what does it look like where you

are? >> reporter: good morning. we are here at pennsylvania avenue right at suitland parkway. and this is an area that i drove through at 2:00 in the morning on my way to work. when i drove on pennsylvania avenue, there was still snow on the roadway. take a look now. we have seen an improvement since then. the plows have been coming through, putting the chemicals, salt down. and as you see, we have wet conditions here at this location. traffic is running well. running at speed. same thing for suitland parkway. when i drove on it early this morning, there were snowy conditions. some spots where the snow completely covered the ground. now, though, we are seeing wet conditions than the snow covered conditions. an improvement. there's a plow, in fact, about to pass me by here. putting the chemicals down. now the tape that you're lookin in the suitland area. we were there about 45 minutes ago. this is quarter avenue. you see the snow-packed condition that they have there. side streets, many of them have not been reached by the plows.

they have not been treated. those streets you're going to find this morning can be treacherous. the snow has accumulated on the roadway there. in some cases you cannot see the lines. it's slick, it's a little treacherous. so as you're leaving this morning, keep in mind that probably the worst conditions that you're going to experience or find will be in your neighborhood. things do improve as you get out there to the major roadways. still, things are slick. you need to take it easy out there. reporting live in forestville, megan mcgrath, news4. back to you. >> thank you. and the bitter cold could also impact your commute on metro. yesterday morning, a rail cracked on the green line near the naylor road station causing delays. metro says cracked roads are not uncommon with temperatures as low as they are, especially on above-ground portions of track. they say there's no way to avoid them in this kind of weather. and stay with news4 and nbcwashington.com for the latest on the winter weather as well as school closings and delays. we want to know what you see in

the snow. what -- what it looks like in your area. send pictures to isee@washington.com. coming up on three minutes after the hour. in our other headlines, defense secretary leon panetta making history. he will announce the pentagon is lifting its ban on women in combat. the policy change will overturn a 1994 ban that ruled -- rule that banned women from being part of combat units. at first women will be assigned to combat support roles like working in communications, logistics, and as drivers. later they will work as medics and corpsmen before becoming combat infantry troops. >> i am incredibly excited. when i listened to obama's inaugural address monday and heard him reference the continuing struggles for equality on many fronts, it was great to hear him mention women's issues. i did not expect that to be the pretlud an announcement -- prelude to an announcement this significant in such short order. >> military leaders have to decide which if any combat jobs they think should be available to men only.

they'll make decisions by 2016. political analysts expect smooth sailing today for john kerry during his confirmation hearing to be secretary of state. kerry will answer questions from his colleagues on the senate foreign relations committee. he is the committee's chairman so new jersey senator robert menendez will preside over the hearing. president obama nominated kerry last month to succeed hillary clinton at the state department. a developing story right now out of south korea -- rather, north korea. the south korean government says north korea may be preparing a nuclear test. the associated press reporting that north korea is warning that it is ready to conduct a test as well as carry out more long-range missile launches. three -- rather, threatening to wage a "full-fledged confrontation again the u.s." for what it calls continued hostility. the threats come just days after the u.n. condemned the country's rocket launch last month. this morning, a grandfather wants answers in his grandson's death in prince george's county. over the weekend, 16-year-old marcus antonio jones was shot

and killed outside a birthday party. police held a public meeting last night at friendly senior high school in ft. washington where jones went to school. police say two fights broke out at the school on tuesday. >> they can tell mell they want that they're doing something. but when marcus was walking out the door -- [ inaudible ] >> parents are worried about sending their children to school, they say. three prince george's county high school student have been shot and killed this school year alone. five minutes after 5:00. coming up on "news4 today," how vice president biden is using the web site google today to make a push for tighter gun control. also ahead, the vote today that could bring major changes to schools in fairfax county. and we're tracking winter weather for you this morning. we have snow all across the region. tom's back with your weather.

it used to be a fountain, now it's an ice sculpture in bryant park, new york city. the water still running there. it's quickly freezing in the fountain. temperatures in the city have hit the single digits at night. just like here. with the wind there, windchills tonight expected to be below zero in most areas. we want to tell you about a new school closing that's just in to our newsroom. frederick, maryland, county schools are two hours late as well as arlington county schools in virginia, two hours late. montgomery, fairfax, loudoun also two hours late this morning. >> that's right. we've also got stafford and king george county schools, as well

as charles county schools in maryland -- >> and st. mary's -- >> st. mary's in maryland closed. that's at the bottom of the screen. keep your eye down there. right now tom kierein is here to bring us up to speed on the forecast. visibility have dropped in the last few minutes . live, fluffy snow coming down. we're getting a band you see on storm team 4 radar. you see the snow is breaking up. where you see the brighter whites, that's where it came down harder. there was a streak of moderate to heavy snow briefly in southern charles, into st. mary's where they got a quick couple of inches out of that. but most of the northern neck had about an inch. around the metro area, we've had about a quarter inch to about a half inch. we are just now getting these little areas where it's brighter. snow coming down harder, loudoun, arlington, fairfax, the district, prince george's county, frederick county getting flurries. it's ended farther north and west of there. we'll see it tapering off and

ending in another couple of hours. right now, it is very cold. all untreated surfaces have snow cover. the roads are wet because they've salted. teens in prince george's county, montgomery, arlington, fairfax. hour by hour through the day, we'll have the winds increasing, gusting out of the northwest to 30 miles per hour later this morning and into the afternoon. that will swirl the snow around. we'll get the sunshine back. highs only the upper 20s. and then tonight, we'll have a clear sky and cold. in fact, down to the teens to near 20 by midnight. could get more snow tomorrow. in fact, likely snow tomorrow. details on that in ten minutes. the seven-day outlook coming up. a look at traffic with danella. good morning. good morning, an update on the crash along i-270. this is heading southbound just south of 80, fingerboard road. the crash is blocking your left lane and involves four vehicles. making the trip out of frederick on i-270, still pretty slippery. please give yourself extra space just in case cars spin out because they're going too fast. give yourself extra space and

time. let's talk about some icy conditions possible in d.c. this is as you make the commute in northwest along kansas avenue and 9 go ahead. and you see here -- and 9th. and you see slick conditions this morning. traveling the beltway, we'll look in virginia. you can see not bad around the beltway. i can tell if you you're taking the beltway between virginia, looping all the way to maryland, some spots are clear, some spots not as clear. pretty safe around the beltway on the inner loop and outer loop. aaron and eun? >> thank you. 11 minutes now after 5:00. ahead on "news4 today," the dramatic scene caught on camera when an 18 wheeler ended up in the path of an oncoming train. we have crews scattered around the region. another live report ahead. okay, i need a better pizza.

one made with only real cheese. a pizza my family will love. (announcer) freschetta naturally rising crust pizza. freschetta. made better to taste better.

welcome back at 5:14. you see the snow starting to trick will off. winds flying. we have another school delay to tell you about. alexandria city schools are opening two hours late. there are a bunch of school closings and delays. be sure to follow "news4 today" all morning long and the school closings and delays are running at the bottom of the screen, as well. tom is tracking the early morning snow. he'll have the latest along with weather & traffic on the 1s ahead. in our other headlines as we approach 5:15. vice president joe biden taking his message on gun control to the internet. he'll answer questions about president obama's recently introduced gun-control measures. this afternoon, he will appear in a live video chat,

google-plus hangout, to field questions about the administration's efforts to reduce gun violence. tomorrow the vice president heads to richmond to meet with virginia state lawmakers about the proposed laws. also today, the group commissioned to investigate the sandy hook moose kerr nt-- mast meets for the first time. the sandy hook advisory commission will hear from experts who was involved in the aftermath of columbine and the virginia tech shooting. they will be asked to make recommendations on safety at schools, mental health, and gun violence prevention. the group was created a month ago by connecticut governor dan malloy. it is up to the senate to decide whether congress should table the debate over raising the debt limit until spring. the house passed a bill yesterday that allows the government to continue borrowing money to pay bills without approval from congress through the middle of may. the white house supports the measure. some democrats oppose it. they say it prolong uncertainty about our economy's health. the senate could vote as soon as tomorrow. this morning, investigators are trying to figure out what

caused a fire that forced a family of nine out of their townhouse in prince george's county. the fire broke out last night on empress way in bowie. chopper 4 flew over the scene. that fire burned all three floors. nobody was hurt. investigator think the fire may have started in the chimney or fireplace. and this morning, we also know a mother and daughter died in that house fire. we first told you about it yesterday. this is on manor road in falls church, virginia. this is cell phone video showing that fire burning the front of the house there. neighbors say they heard an explosion and two brief screams about 3:30 yesterday morning. the identities of the victims have not been released. both were hearing impaired, we understand. the mother was a professor at gallaudet university. investigators are trying to determine what caused the explosion and the fire. today we could find out if construction will begin soon on new school buildings in fairfax county. the county school board is expected to vote on a plan to build two new elementary schools in the coming years. six existing schools would also be renovated. this is part of the school system's capital improvement

program which addresses its growing student population. the county would like to build even more schools eventually. this morning the university of virginia's college at wise is back open after a report of a gunman on campus forced a lockdown. that rural campus in southwestern virginia. police gave the all clear late last night. virginia state police say the student who reported seeing a gunman confessed it was a hoax. a frightening scene in vermont when a truck ran some railroad signals. check this out. an 18 wheeler blows through the flashing signals and gets rammed by the train, ripping off the back of the trailer. this happened in northern virginia tuesday. as you see, the crash happened dangerous he close it a gas station which could have made things much worse. no one was hurt. the truck driver was ticketed. smoke and fire on the water in miami. check this out. the owner of a boat says he was repairing an engine when he stepped away for a minute. when he returned, his 37-foot boat was on fire.

that quickly spread to a 21-foot boat before firefighters doused the flames. no one was hurt. the cause is under investigation. investigators in california trying to figure out what caused a massive fire near oakland's chinatown district. more than 50 firefighters battled flames last night. you could see the giant flames from a mile away. they believe the home was abandoned and no one was inside. in "news 4 your health" now, women who smoke have caught up to men when it comes to getting sick from smoking-related illnesses. the american cancer society says more women than ever before are dying from both lung cancer and chronic lung disease. similar studies done in the '60s and '70s did not indicate such a huge impact on women. researchers say women are starting to smoke at a younger age and more than women in the past. the research shows women who smoke have a greater risk of dying a decade earlier than people who don't smoke. more people are choosing cremation than ever before. the funeral directors association reports 2.5 million people die each year.

in 2011, 42% were cremated. that's double the rate of just 15 years ago. the main reason cremation is up is because it is much cheaper than a burial. one of the most obese states in the country is trying to help residents shed some pounds with a new online program. all michigan residents have to do is sign a pledge that they will work to lose 10% of their body weight. then they get a starter kit that includes a food and exercise log. a guide to healthy grocery shopping. they receive motivational tip and healthy recipes in their e-mail. the state's community health director who has committed to losing 20 pounds says he think the online community will help people stay motivated. >> what we found out is that people just can't say i'm going to lose weight. they have to get some reminders. they can get updates on cell phones, tips. they feed in information. >> more than 170 employers and organizations have also signed up for this program. want to check the forecast now. we can add prince george's

county now to the list of delays. two-hour delays for prince george's county public schools. all the big systems around here except for d.c. have reported -- >> montgomery -- >> fairfax, prince george's county on a two-hour delay. >> let's check in with tom kierein for a look at the forecast. good morning. those are smart moves by the school systems. we have a coating of snow on untreated surfaces. that includes the side street, sidewalk and front steps. it's sweepable snow, light and fluffy. most of it now is tapering off and beginning to end. the heaviest amounts as we go back over the last three hours. the bright white in southern charles, into st. mary's county. they picked up a couple of inches. two to 2.5 inches. elsewhere, generally an inch or less around northern virginia, maryland, and the district. where these spots here, where it's brighter, it's coming down harder here in fairfax county, southern loudoun, northern prince william. around manassas. that's quickly heading off to the south and east. it's really breaking up, beginning to end, north of there. montgomery, howard, frederick, maryland. and all these counties, though,

in lavender are still under a winter weather advisory until 9:00. generally an inch or so in these areas. temperatures very cold still. we're just in the mid to upper teens in prince george's county. montgomery county just in the mid teens. arlington, fairfax county only the upper teens. and we're going to stay here, only near 20 degrees here through about 9:00. then by noontime, ought to be in the mid 20s. then between 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, hovering in the upper 20s for a brief time. we'll have lots of sunshine. the wind's going to be blustery, too. we'll have it gusting to around 30 miles per hour. here's your storm team 4 four-day forecast. looks like a more snow tomorrow. increasing clouds on friday. not in the morning. in the teens. highs reaching near 30 early afternoon on friday. then more snow likely moving back in, does look like perhaps mid to late friday afternoon into friday night. all of it ending by midnight. might pick up a couple of inches or more. then quickly ending. saturday and sunday, sun

returns, teen in the morning, afternoon highs low to mid 30s. warming up monday, tuesday. and might get rain wednesday. i'm back with frequent updates throughout the morning. stay tuned. danella now with your first 4 traffic. good morning. i'm watching accidents grow in our area. very slippery conditions. you've got to give yourself extra time. this accident we're going to talk about now, this is the inner loop at landover road. police are on the scene. it is blocking your left lane, possibly two left lanes in the area. use caution. over to i-270, southbound, delays are growing just south of finger board road in the left lane here. you have a multi-vehicle accident. four cars involved. this is 109. out of frederick, icy. closer to gaithersburg it get clearer. back to you. >> thank you very much. time now is 5:22. if you are just waking up, we have slushy roads all across the region as the snow finally starts to taper off. >> you're looking live at the district. we'll run down a list of the major delays and closures coming up.

coming up, a virginia in shop turning heads.

a flower shop in a small virginia town getting backlash for its valentine's day wind display. this is coburn, virginia, near the kentucky border. it shows an inflatable doll in a party dress laying in a bed surrounded by empty wine and pill bottles. the owner says the message is you don't send me flowers anymore. some people in the town say it promotes substance abuse and suicide. >> shocking. i never seen -- nothing like that in coburn. >> we were trying to say, this poor girl is in the window in her bed drinking and taking her pill and going to sleep to try to forget about valentine's day because no one sent her flowers. >> that's so sad. >> yeah. the owner says that they made

some changes, including removing some of the bottles. they will not take it down. by the way, they say they used an inflatable doll because it was cheaper than a mannequin. >> turning heads for sure. okay. it is now 5:27. coming up, the major announcement that could change the front lines of battle forever. plus, later at 5:55, metro proposing a major expansion. the project that will cost $26 billion. and we are watching the snow as it moves away. we're keeping an eye on the roads, as well.

winter weather advisory blew through our area overnight. the snow made driving difficult for early risers. as you head out, leave yourself plenty of extra time. and here is a look at conditions right now. you see the snow is on the way out. the roads are slick. your neighborhood side streets might be really tough to get out of this morning. we'll have the latest for you on "news4 today." good morning and welcome. i'm eun yang. >> i'm aaron gilchrest. it is slick out there right now. the federal government announcing it is operating -- its operating status a while ago, they are open. employees do have the option for unscheduled leave or telework. the fairfax county government also open with its unscheduled leave policy in place. >> turning to schools, fairfax,

loudoun, alexandria city, and arlington counties in virginia on a two-hour delay as are anne arundel, prince george's, montgomery, frederick and carroll counties in maryland. >> these school systems are closed today -- charles, calvert, st. mary's counties in maryland, winchester city, culpeper, stafford, orange, spotsylvania, fauquier, rappahannock, king george counties in virginia. all of the school closings and delays scrolling at the bottom of your screen right now. news4's megan mcgrath is working her way around prince george's county. we checked in with you in forestville, then suitland. and now you're in clinton. how it's looking where you are? >> reporter: well, things on the beltway looked pretty good. just wet pavement. then we got off on route 5 heading south toward the charles county area, we're this clinton now. and you see that the road conditions are not as great as some of the other areas. some of the other major roads that we saw earlier. you see that we do have some snow, slushy snow in between the

lanes, as well as on the exit ramps. take a look at this exit here. this is really looks like it has not been touched much by any of the chemical treatments being put down by the plows here this morning. so we do have some slushy conditions on that ramp. and again in the southbound direction on route 5. take a look, though, on the other side. this is the inbound side, the headlights that you're seeing of route 5. a lot more traffic obviously as people make their way into the city to go work. that traffic helping with the chemicals, the salt that was laid down earlier. so the conditions on the inbound side appear better than in the southbound direction. side streets that have not been treated are snow covered. take it easy. give yourself that extra time. back to you. >> thank you very much. want to bring in storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein. saw snow falling where megan is. how are we doing? >> it wasn't much but enough for all the schools delay or close around much of the region.

storm team radar showing it moving south and east. closeup shows lingering snow in northern virginia, district. the heaviest amounts were way down in southern charles county, st. mary's county. they had a couple of inches. the metro area had an inch. inch or less around the area. throughout the day, sunshine breaking out this morning. winds increasing, highs only in the upper 20s by mid-afternoon. i'm back in ten minutes with another update. danella with a look at first 4 traffic. good morning. good morning. we'll start in new carrollton. have an accident, two accidents in the area. along 85th between 450 and eland street. use caution. another update, i-270 south of 80 seeing a multi-vehicle accident. four cars are involved. they block your left lane. expect delays. to i-95 in maryland, southbound at 32, slippery northbound. accident reported there. >> thank you very much.

5:33. this san historic day at the pentagon -- this is an historic day at the pentagon. the military will now allow women in combat. tracie potts on capitol hill with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. it is a big day, the end of a 19-year-old ban on women in direct combat. it could open 237,000 jobs for women now in the military. this announcement formally expected to come today. not everyone thinks it's a good idea. women in direct combat on the front lines, in close quarters. some don't think this should be changed. last month, the aclu sued with a couple of women in the military saying that not only does it not open opportunities for women, but also it's bad military strategy that the leaders and commanders in the field can't decide the best way to fight without always considering all of their troops. now, a lot would say there are already women in combat. 150 women have died in iraq and afghanistan. that announcement today. >> all right. tracie potts live for us.

thank you. john kerry will take the next step toward becoming secretary of state today. he'll answer questions from the senate foreign relations committee during his confirmation hearing. kerry is the committee's chairman and most political analysts expect him to have no trouble being confirmed. the massachusetts democrat would succeed hillary clinton at the state department. and one of clinton's last appearances as secretary of state will perhaps be one of her most memorable. >> the fact is we had four dead americans. was it because of a protest or it was because of guys out for a walk one night or decided they'd go kill americans? what difference at this point does it make? it is our job -- >> she lashed out at critics during testimony yesterday about september's deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. clinton accepted responsibility for the attack during testimony before the senate foreign relations committee. that was not enough, though, for some republicans on that committee. >> i'm glad that you're accepting responsibility. i think that ultimately with you're leaving you accept the culpability for the worst tragedy since 9/11.

and i really mean that. had i been president at the time and i found that you did not read the cables from benghazi, you did not read the cables from ambassador stevens, i would have relieved you of your post. >> clinton was supposed to testify last month. the testimony was postponed after she fell and suffered a concussion and then developed a blood clot. mitt romney will make a rare appearance in d.c. tomorrow. the former presidential nominee will attend a luncheon hosted by two of his major campaign fundraisers. philanthropist catherine reynolds and hotel magnate bill marriott jr. the reception is being held at the j.w. marriott downtown. romney has rejoined the hotel's board of directors after leaving in 2011 to run for the white house. romney chose not to attend the inauguration monday. the first nominee to do so since musical dukakis in 1989. this morning, lance armstrong faces his first lawsuit since coming clean about using performance enhancing drugs. two men are suing armstrong and his book publishers for false advertising.

they say they bought armstrong's books because they believed his story about his ride to victory despite a near-fatal bout with testicular cancer. the lawsuit says lance armstrong and the publishers violated consumer protection laws by selling books as nonfiction. 5:37. 22 degrees. ahead, the redskins player who admits he can relate to what mantei te'o is going through. and metro's plans for the future. the $26 billion proposal to dig new tunnels. a sandwich suit this morning.

[ telephone rings ] good evening, this is flo. [laughs] yes, i'm that flo. aren't you sweet! licensed phone-ups available 24/7. call 1-800-progressive. you're looking live near river road and seven locks road. snow continuing to fall in parts of our area. montgomery county schools are two hours late, too. >> we've also just learned that prince william county schools in virginia will be closed today. obviously because of the weather. we have more from woodbridge. we'll check in with tony to see what they're dealing with in prince william. >> all right. now let's check in with storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein to find out which areas in our viewing area are getting most snow. what's happening, tom?

right now the heaviest amounts reported culpeper county, a couple of inches. st. mary's, charles county, some locations a couple of inches. most of the area had an inch or less. and you see a lot of the snow now is tapering off, moving off south and east of the metro area. still, though, lingering snow right in northern virginia. fairfax county, arlington, loudoun, northern prince william and fauquier. in maryland now, still light snow in montgomery county, southern frederick, howard, northern prince george's county, anne arundel, calvert, st. mary's. and the district of columbia is still getting a little light snow. most of it's ending. this is the last batch. it will be moving through over the next hour or so and will taper off and end. around the region, teens. in prince geor's county, upper teens. much of montgomery county, only the mid teens. upper teens arlington, fairfax county, most of northern virginia. much of southern maryland near 20 degrees. all that snow did stick to untreated surfaces where the roadways are wet.

by 7:00 a.m., a break from clouds, the snow ending. we'll have it climbing to mid 20s by noontime. by then, winds gusting to 30 miles per hour. that will be blowing snow around. highs only reaching upper 20s by mid-afternoon. looks like a cold night tonight coming up. we'll be clear by midnight. back down to near 20 degrees much of the region. and could get more snow tomorrow. the latest in ten minutes. danella now with a look at traffic. good morning. i-95 north in maryland at 32, a car slid off the road. it's in a ditch. you have to slow down as you're making the commute. on the beltway, the inner loop of the beltway earlier at landover road, still lined up to the left shoulder lane. left lane also blocked. again, please give yourself extra time. we'll go to virginia northbound 395 in the hov lanes at duke. accident here. i can tell you one of the cars was horizontally in the roadway. it's off to the right shoulder. travel lanes are open. use caution there. >> thank you. 5:42. 23 degrees. a local company announces a huge

loss? why they're blaming the government. ahead at 5:55, metro's major overhaul. a grand plan for the future.

here is a live look at the roads in the district. this is the intersection of kansas and 9th street northwest. good coating of snow out there now. if you're going to be heading out, you will find side streets in bad shape. i did some fishtailing this morning on rock creek parkway. i'll tell you, you'll want to take it easy out there. caution is definitely the word of the day. >> indeed. this morning, lots of people across the area waking up to snow. >> and that means many roads are covered as crews try to clear and treat them before the morning rush. news4 has more from prince william county. tony, how's it looking? good morning. >> reporter: good morning. as you mentioned, crews are

trying to do the best they can clearing side roads. last time we checked in with you in woodbridge, a lot of the side roads hadn't been hit. take a live look. you see we just had a plow come through a couple of minutes ago. laid down salt. this side road here which is telegraph road here in woodbridge is starting to clear up. guys, look at this. prince william parkway, you can see some of the traffic here at this intersection moving along nicely. kind of monitored prince william parkway here at telegraph road for the last, i don't know, half-hour, 45 minutes, since it's become clear. just wet conditions. a lot of traffic moving nicely. guys, take a live look up at this light here. you see our current conditions. you see some flurries falling by that light poemp as you heard a couple of minutes ago, prince william county schools have been closed. if you have kids here, it's officially a snow day for them. bring them out, let them enjoy the snow. mom and dad might have to take off. streets are starting to clear up. as i mentioned, the side streets in woodbridge, prince william county, starting to clear up. the snowplows are starting to make their way to the side

streets. wait a couple of minutes. they'll be down your way if you have to head out. we'll check in with you all morning. hope you guys are staying warm in there. >> tony, thank you. in our other headlines at 5:48, today, vice president joe biden takes to the web to answer questions about recently introduced gun-control measures. this afternoon he'll appear on the live video chat google-plus hangout to field questions about efforts to reduce gun violence. it's being called a fireside hangout, if you will. a make it that harkens bans to fireside chats over the radio. today, he will head to virginia to meet with state lawmakers about the proposed laws. it appears many americans support the president's gun-control proposals. a new gallup poll shows 91% support a requirement of a background check for all gun sales. in terms of spending, 82% support an increase in spending for mental health programs. 79%, more money for police and security.

meantime, 60% support a controversial ban on assault weapons. a virginia senate committee killed the latest attempt to close the so-called gun show loophole. the measure won initial approval last week, but two republicans withdrew their support. undercover video showed two lawmakers buying a weapon at a chantilly gun show without a background check. it is not illegal. the proposed bill would have required private vendor at gun shows to sell their guns through licensed dealers so that all buyers would be subject to checks. d.c.'s police chief is challenging the findings of a report that be released today questioning how rape cases are handled in the district. the police chief says information was gathered using flawed methods. one victim tells us she was mistreated by police, and her case was mishandled after she said she was sexually assaulted. >> the detective right in front of me told the nurse that i didn't need the exam done. and the nurse to her credit said that that was her job to

determine and that i would need to talk with her. i did. the experience of being raped was absolutely humiliating. but it wasn't until i talked to police that i felt shamed. >> my fear is that because this report is based on older data, incidents involving one or two detectives who are no longer in the unit, it's painting a picture that that's the current state of affairs. it's not. >> human rights watch says in the past three years the d.c. police department has failed to document more than 170 assault cases and failed to investigate 35 other cases. the man who tried to assassinate president reagan is expected in u.s. district court this morning. a judge will consider new recommendations from st. elizabeth's hospital where john hinckley jr. is living. in recent years the hospital and hinckley's lawyers requested hinckley have expanded visits with his mother for durations of up to 24 days. prosecutors argue hinckley is still a danger. a judge has thrown out a lawsuit challenging maryland's gambling expansion.

the lawsuit argued that question 7 required a majority of all of the state's registered voerths to approve the -- voters to approve the referendum. not just the majority who voted. a judge rejected the idea. question 7 paves the way for vegas-style table games and gambling at all maryland casinos. it prevents a sixth casino at national harbor in prince george's county. redskins players are being warned about women claiming to be someone who they are not. the -- one woman uses the twitter name redridinghood. the woman allegedly used fake photos on line and has had contact with several players. the pictures were actually pictures of a porn star. a germantown man who was also fooled by the woman says he started communicating with her because she was a redskins fan. >> i understand the other football players, you need a to see pretend to be something else. you want to -- they could help you out or whatever, but i'm nobody. why -- why lie to me? >> news4 spoke to phillip

daniels, director of player development for the washington redskins. he gave thus statement -- "i think it was all about attention. it was just about being able to talk to players. it was never a situation where guys were giving money or anything like that." time to check our forecast. depending on where you live, you could be seeing a lot of snow, a dusting. in some areas, the snow is still falling. >> yeah. but it's mostly over. it's breaking up most of the region. it's been so cold that any untreated surface, it definitely stuck miemp co-worker, bill holt, i saw him. he said, when i stepped out my door, i was 59 at the. at the end of the -- i was 5. at the end of the driveway i was 6' 6'9". 19 at reagan national. a north/northeasterly wind around ten miles per hour. reports coming in. weather observers waking up now, taking measurements. finding out now in parts of st. mary's county up to four inches fell.

lusby, maryland, picked up about three inches. over to culpeper, that area got a couple of inches. it was south of washington where the heavier snow fell. storm team 4 radar showing a little light snow lingering in prince william, loudoun, fairfax, arlington, the district, prince george's, montgomery, howard, and frederick in maryland. and a little bit of lingering snow in far southern st. mary's county, northern neck, the lower part of the eastern shore. getting moderate snow. dusting to four inches fell. all these areas in the purple where we still have a winter weather advisory in effect until 9:00. most of the snow is going to be ending within the next hour. it is certainly cold all of prince george's county. only the upper teens. now montgomery county, just the mid teens. upper teens to near 20 in arlington. mid teens to low teens parts of fairfax county and northern virginia. now going forward over the next couple of days, we'll clear out tonight into tomorrow. then tomorrow afternoon clouds rapidly moving in. those areas in the lavender are zones of potential snow again. late friday afternoon and into friday night. then we'll clear out friday

night. here's the storm team 4 four-day forecast. we'll have sunshine breaking out here later this morning. winds increasing, gusting to 30 miles per hour. that will blow the snow around. we'll be in the upper 20s by later this afternoon. and then clear, cold tonight, teens by dawn tomorrow. and thickening clouds tomorrow. then does look like during the afternoon and evening, more snow. maybe a couple more inches or so. and ending midnight friday night. sun back on saturday and sunday. still cold. a warming trend as we get into next week. maybe rain on wednesday. i'm back in ten minutes. danella with first 4 traffic. good morning. good morning. have an update on the earlier accident we were talking about. southbound i-270 south of fingerboard road. that accident involved four vehicles. it's out of the roadway. making your way southbound heading toward montgomery county, it is pretty slippery along i-270. let's take a look now as you're making the commute. this time around the beltway, not bad at all in montgomery county as well, all the way to prince george's county as well as virginia. when i say not bad, there are

slick spots, but for the most part travel lanes are open. to northbound i-95 at 32. a vehicle off into a ditch. along i-95 this morning, you see a slow commute. this is the look southbound. northbound the camera's blurry. southbound you see the road conditions here. just slick. give yourself extra time. aaron, back to you. >> all right. thank you. it appears red light cameras are an effective way of keeping drivers from running red lights. the insurance institute for highway safety says the number of cars running red lights in arlington county is down at intersections with the cameras. according to researchers, the odds of a vehicle running a red light at least a half second after the light turned red were down 39% in the first year of ticketing. violations that happened at least a whole second after the light turned red were 48% less likely. and the odds of a violation happening, a whole second and a half after the lie changed fell 88%. our area's growing population has metro considering building two new tunnels as part of its long-term plan.

the "washington post" reports that the ten-year plan will be presented to the board today. it includes a proposal for a tunnel that runs underneath 10th street to thomas circle. pictured on the right. and a second tunnel under the potomac between rosalyn and georgetown seen on the left. leaders are also proposing some underground walkways to be built between stations downtown so riders can transfer lines without waiting for a train. the plan calls for $26 billion in funding over the next 30 years. a local company reporting major losses, and they say the reason is defense cuts. we have more live from cnbc. good morning. good morning, aaron. general dynamics, one of the nation's biggest federal contractors, reported a huge quarterly loss on wednesday, blaming it largely on defense cuts. the company which is based in falls church, virginia, posted a $2 billion fourth quarter loss on lower than expected sales as shrinking government orders and writedowns hammered the aircraft and weapons maker.

th stock dropped as much as 5% in trading before recovering to close up about 1%. now analysts attribute that to reassuring comments from the company's ceo. the washington area's dependence on government and defense contract makes it vulnerable to spending cuts put in place by president obama and congress. between 2,000 and -- 2000 and 2010, government procurement spending grew by double digits, but last year it fell more than 5%. >> thank you. subway could find itself in the middle of a real food fight. two mnew jersey men are suing accusing it was making false advertising claims. they measured the pharmaceutical-long subs and -- the foot-long subs and said they weren't actually a foot long. the company says it tries to ensure consistency in all of its stores. 5:57. ahead at 6:00. a look at roads all over the area. we're watching conditions in maryland, virginia, and all over. >> we're going to run down the

list of all the big closings and delays coming up.

it finally happened. snow around here. we're waking up to a nice coating this ur